


little victories

by fruectose



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Canon-compliant violence, F/M, some violence, tw blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25921912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fruectose/pseuds/fruectose
Summary: capture the flag is no joke. even if you're in love
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 9
Kudos: 158
Collections: Camp Counselor Stories





	little victories

The first Capture the Flag came an entire four months after the Battle of Manhattan. The campers who’d weren’t ecstatic about training, strategizing or fighting for a while post-war, but you can only separate demigod from bloodlust for so long. By the time schools had closed for winter break, it seemed every single camp-goer was itching for the chance to take each other down again.

Annabeth Chase was no different, her motivation only fueled by the fact that the Athena cabin didn’t currently hold a flag. They’d _always_ had a flag under her leadership, but she’d been preoccupied with war-prep even before things got serious and Malcolm, her second-in-command had lost their precious banner to Hermes. _Hermes_!

It was this desperation, along with the incentive of a worthy opponent for the next week, that led her to form an alliance so brilliant and so unheard of that her siblings nearly booted her off as head counselor when they heard.

“On the Red team, we have- Ares, Aphrodite and… _Athena_?” Chiron began to announce but finished with a question. He looked at Annabeth and frowned, as if worried she was losing her mind. She held up her helmet with its red plume in affirmation. Chiron cleared his throat.

“Ares and Athena… are together.” He said, as if coming to terms with it himself. “On the Red team. Ares and Athena- will be working… as a team.” The more he repeated it, the less sure of himself he sounded.

“Red Team!” Clarisse shouted, and all of hers and Annabeth’s siblings cheered. Annabeth looked around at the team. There was only twenty-one of them in total, as opposed to the rest of the Camp- roughly forty odd kids. Besides, Ares and Athena were filled with strategists, and stubborn ones at that- who was to say they’d manage to get through this one match without turning on each other? She’d hoped that having the strongest cabins together would be enough, but now Annabeth grew slightly tense.

“And on the Blue team, led by Hermes, we have Poseidon, Apollo, Hephaestus, Hades, Demeter, and Dionysus.” Chiron continued and the ground shook when they cheered.

Annabeth wrung her wrists nervously. “Uh… I don’t know how good an idea this is.” She told Malcolm, watching the other team warily. Her eyes focused on Percy Jackson as he did up the straps of his armor and had to bite back a smile. _Crooked_ , she thought.

“Yeah, this is the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard.” Malcolm agreed. “But we’re here now so I suppose we’re just going to have to just follow through.”

“Besides,” Chace, one of the guys from the Ares cabin materialized to her other side. “’Too many cooks spoil the broth’, right? You said so yourself. There’s no _way_ anyone can manage forty kids. _Least_ of all the Stolls.”

“They’ve got Percy, though.” Malcolm pointed out. He fastened his greaves around his shins. “He’s great at consolidation. Good leader.”

“Yeah, we were all there during the war.” Chace said, shoving Malcolm lightly. Unfortunately for scrawny Malcolm, he was also balanced on one knee so it sent him tumbling onto the ground. He looked up and glared at Chace.

“Not cool man. We’re on the same team!”

“Oh, grow up, Pace.”

“Trouble in paradise?” A voice, too smug- asked, and Annabeth handed Chace her helmet before looking over to see Percy grinning down at her. He’d hit a growth spurt sometime in September and overtook her by almost an entire head, and Annabeth had never resented the sudden height difference more than right now. He held his hand out, his smile patronizing. “Good luck, babe. Although I don’t think luck’s going to help you at all today.”

Annabeth slapped his hand out of her way. “Shut up, Jackson.” She said. Percy chuckled- a happy, rough sound that lifted Annabeth off her feet. His smile filled her with so much joy that her vision blurred for a second.

“We’re going to kick your butt.” She promised him. “I’m going to take so much pleasure in wiping that stupid smirk off your face.” She stepped closer to him and poked him in the armor. The metal sent a sharp pain up her finger but she maintained her composure, as if she was going to give Percy the satisfaction.

Of course, like he usually did, Percy noticed. His grin got impossibly arrogant and he feigned sympathy. “Hope that didn’t hurt you.” He said. “Because I didn’t feel a thing. It’s kind of the point of armor.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“I hate you.” Annabeth told him. Percy beamed, his green eyes glinting with mischief. Affection and something far stronger bubbled in Annabeth’s chest. He ducked his head slightly, pressing a chaste, quick kiss to her lips.

“I’m sure that isn’t true.” He said. Annabeth glared at him. He wasn’t wrong but that didn’t really help his case much.

“Just because we’re dating doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you.” She warned. There was that scratchy laugh again- shy and confident at the same time. Annabeth thought he saved those for her when they were alone. Like he was confident in his place in her life, but shy about knowing it. His stupid laugh that encapsulated everything good about Percy Jackson that she adored to bits- which she _didn’t have the time for_ at this moment, when she _should_ be focusing on _destroying_ him.

“Oh, I never doubted that for a second.” He said.

 _Gods_ , she was so sickeningly obsessed with him. She hated it. She got on her tiptoes and pecked him on the lips.

“Good.” She said.

Percy opened his mouth to say something but Clarisse’s voice cut him off.

“Oi, Lovebirds.” She growled as she made her way over. She was fully dressed in armor and she glared at the both of them. “Five feet apart.” She said, pushing Annabeth- who had no protection against Clarisse, who was twice her size even without the getup- roughly until her butt smacked against the table with their weapons.

“Alright Prissy, scram.” Clarisse barked. Percy raised one brow. Annabeth didn’t miss the way he casually slipped on his helmet as he spoke- smart move, she thought. Even with his Achilles’ curse, Annabeth wasn’t very sure of his odds against Clarisse. She’d gotten impossibly good with her spear since the war- like Ares himself was fighting from within her.

“Hey, Clarisse. Just came over to wish you guys good luck. It’s too bad we’re going to pulverize you.”

Clarisse bared her teeth. “We’ll see how smart you are when I run a spear through your face.” She said. “Now get out.”

“Always so charming.” Percy said, turning his back to her and walking off. “Catch you later, Clarisse. See you after I beat you, babe.”

“Your armor is crooked.” Annabeth called after him. Yeah, okay, not the best response but Percy always looked so good when he wore his armor and that _stupid_ smile- could you blame her brain for not being at maximum functionality?

Clarisse glared at his retreating back and then at Annabeth. “Why are you not suited up?” She asked. Annabeth adjusted her breastplate without any retort. “Anyway, I came here to talk about the game.” Clarisse continued.

“Chace’s group is on border patrol to the west, Malcolm’s team will over the east, Aphrodite protects the flags, except Lacy, who covers us. Well, _you_ , really. I’ll put on my trusty cap, find the flag as well as path of least resistance and you’ll bring her home. I think we’ve actually got this.” Annabeth recapped. She wasn’t thrilled about Clarisse being the one to carry the flag, but they’d worked it out- if Ares is in possession of both flags, they get to nominate their opponent for the next week- and Clarisse had promised to choose Athena.

Clarisse nodded. “Yeah, but I’ve got some reservations.”  
“Like what?”

“You, mostly.” Clarisse said. “You’re terrible at following plans, and you never listen to any commands.”

Annabeth was offended. “Excuse me? I’m _great_ at strategizing-”

“But the worst at following orders.” Clarisse said. “I want Hermes to eat my dust. This is the first match in months and we _have_ to win. I’m a little worried you’re a loose cannon.”

Annabeth sighed. “Fine. I’ll do _exactly_ as you say.”

“Every word.” Clarisse told her.

“Every word.” Annabeth promised. Clarisse nodded.

“Okay, then. Is Jackson going to be on offence or defense?” She asked.

“He’s never done well at defense.”

“Good. Then you’ll cover him if he gets onto our side. Whatever happens, Poseidon will _not_ beat us.”

“I mean, he’s one guy.” Annabeth said. “But sure. Whatever.”

“I hate your boyfriend.” Clarisse said gruffly.

“Sure you do.”

“But even I have to admit he’s going to be our biggest challenge. You and I are the only ones who stand a chance keeping him away. If he gets anywhere close to our flag, we’ve lost already.”

Annabeth fixed the last of her back-plate straps just as Chiron blew his conch. She checked her dagger on her thigh and the sword in her holster. “It’s game time.” She said.

For the most part, the game was going alright. Annabeth managed to find their flag in record time- it was hung on a tree very close to Juniper’s- and also extremely well-guarded. Connor Stoll, Jake Mason and Will Solace were all very skilled. Nico di Angelo and Katie Gardner were also great, both, with their swords and their powers. Annabeth had to admit the other team had done a good job with defense, which was obviously their strategy from the beginning. Who needed a good hiding spot if your flag was basically unreachable?

She snuck past the enemy lines again and found Clarisse and Lacy.

“What’s happening?” She asked.

“Chace ran into some Hephaestus and Apollo kids and fought them off. I don’t think they’ve found our flags yet.”

“Okay, great. I think I should come with you.” Annabeth said. “Invisibly. Their flag is on a tree and they put Katie Gardner on protection. You couldn’t get up that tree without her having the vines tie you up. Let me get that part.”

Clarisse considered it. “New plan. Annabeth grabs the flag, but hand it over to me as soon as possible.” She emphasized. “You hear me, Chase? I don’t want them whining about how invisibility is misusing powers and all that shit. If we win, the flag is Athena’s.”

“But you carry it?” Annabeth asked. Her first instinct was to not trust Clarisse, but neither of them had anticipated such a strong defence. Usually, campers liked to go right to offence. There was no point arguing when they didn’t even have the flag. She sighed. “Okay, deal.”

“Get the flag. I’ll meet you by Zeus’ fist. Lacy, you ready?”

“Yep.”

“Tell Chace and Malcolm the plan. I have a feeling Nico di Angelo might be scouting for the flag.” Clarisse said.

“He’s defending-”

“Do you really think Travis wouldn’t use shadow travel the way we’re using your invisibility?”

She wasn’t wrong. Annabeth sighed. “Fine. See you in fifteen. If I’m late-,”

“We’ll look for you.” Lacy promised.

Clarisse was right. Nico was no longer defending the flag by the time she got to it. Annabeth sneaked past Connor and Katie, who were arguing about the suspicious plant that was growing on Demeter’s cabin without consent from the counsellor, and climbed up the tree carefully, thankful for all her practice on the lava wall. She balanced herself on the branch and looked in the direction of her team’s flag. It was suspiciously quiet, but she wasn’t sure if it was because the flag was well concealed. She could see Malcolm’s border patrol groups fighting off a fair few blue team members, but nobody seemed to have gotten close to the flag. On the other side, she noticed a group of blue helmets slowly sneaking towards Chace’s team. It was as if they weren’t even looking for the flag.

_What was their play_? She thought. Malcolm’s group was being slowly pushed back- and right towards the creek.

_Oh_. If the best defense was a strong offence, Annabeth thought, what made a good defense? She grabbed the flag and hopped off the branch, landing noisily on the ground.

“Hey!” Connor cried. Annabeth was still invisible, but the blue Hermes flag in her hand wasn’t. Jake, who was the closest to her, moved to draw his sword, but Annabeth punched him square in the face without a second thought, sending him crumpling to his feet.

“Fuck sake, Annabeth!” He moaned from the ground. “You broke my nose! _Again_!”

Annabeth didn’t have time to issue apologies. Connor and Will were already crowding around her, and the grass at her feet started to grow, twisting around her ankles. Annabeth drew her sword and attacked, but Connor was already anticipating it. In a move he must have picked up from Luke, he held her sword in a lock and used his free elbow to knock her hat off her head.

“Hiya, Annie Bell.” He sang before dislodging his sword, and, fast as lightning, slashing across her front. It was sheer luck that Annabeth moved about an inch left so he missed her by a hair. Will and Katie were advancing on her, too, and in a desperate move, Annabeth stomped, hard as she could, on Connor’s foot. She took full advantage of his momentary shock to slam the butt of her sword between his eyes. He released her and she didn’t wait to grab her cap. She ran fast as her legs could carry her, Katie and Will hot at her feet calling out for enforcements.

She almost ran directly into Clarisse. She shoved the flag in her hands.

“Run!” She yelled at the same time Lacey cried,

“Duck!”

Annabeth didn’t question her. She dropped to the ground just as an arrow whizzed past her ear. A foul odor filled Annabeth’s nose, so pungent that her eyes stung and her skin burned. She got to her feet and glared in the direction of the forest behind her.

“Oh, real mature, Will!” She coughed. “Fart arrows. Aren’t you just-”

“Sorry, Annabeth. You have something of ours.” Will called back before his grinning face appeared in front of her, his arrow notched and pointed at Annabeth’s heart. “We’d like it back.”

Annabeth couldn’t come up with a clever enough remark so she stuck her tongue out at him and bolted again. She caught up with Clarisse and Lacy, who were struggling to fight their way past some Apollo kids.

“Mind the creek!” Annabeth called.

“What?” Clarisse asked, jerking out of the way before she ran into a branch.

“The creek!” Annabeth repeated. She was running fast and over a long distance, which meant she didn’t have the lung capacity to manage _they’re luring everyone together at the creek, where Percy obviously has a trick up his sleeve_ , so she really hoped that when Clarisse grunted and pushed on ahead, she was taking that into consideration.

Annabeth separated from Lacy and Clarisse, taking Will and Katie along the longest winded path to the creek. She grabbed anything she could manage- stones, sticks, sometimes leaves- and tossed them blindly over her shoulder to stall them as best as she could. She burst into a clearing- the creek was so close. Both border patrol groups, led by Chace and Malcolm, were fighting tooth and nail with groups twice as big as them and being crowded towards the creek.

“This is so transparent.” Annabeth muttered under her breath. There was rustling within the trees around and she could see people from the blue team starting to come out. There was no sign of Clarisse and Lacy- maybe they’d run into someone, maybe they got lost. All Annabeth knew was she had to get her team as far away from the creek as she could before they were all drowned by a certain son of a sea god.

“Get back!” She shouted, racing down. Nobody heard her. Her eyes scanned the area, searching desperately for any sign of Percy- and then there it was. The corner of an orange t-shirt sleeve, behind one of the bushes by the edge of the blue team’s territory. It was stupid to recognize someone by their sleeve, but Annabeth had seen Percy in every setting imaginable a thousand times each- she could distinguish him by an eyelash if she had to. She snuck up on him- Percy was obviously too busy watching the twenty demigods he planned to trap- so he didn’t notice her until she had her knife drawn and pointed just under his chin.

He looked up, green eyes going from panicked to calm in record time as he recognized her. His lips tugged up in a wicked smile and he turned around to fully face her.

“Careful, babe.” Annabeth said, her chest heaving from all the running she’d done. “Don’t want you cutting yourself.”

“Oh, you’re very sneaky.” Percy’s laugh was husky. He got up slowly to his feet, his hands up and out by his side as if proving to her that he wasn’t going to reach out for Riptide. _As if_ , Annabeth thought- the element of surprise would only work for so long before her _invincible_ boyfriend pulled out his sword and sliced her to bits _. Great story for the kids_ , she thought drily.

She jerked her chin towards the creek. “You really think we wouldn’t catch on?”

Percy shrugged. “Oh, I knew you’d catch on.” He said. “It’s the convincing the rest of your team I was positive you’d never be able to do. Ares hates you, Aphrodite wouldn’t go against their captain’s orders, and Athena… doesn’t trust you, considering your poor ally-ship decisions.” He shrugged. “All I have to do is kick your butt and then your team will be _easy_ to drown out.”

Annabeth couldn’t decide it she was flattered by that or not, but while she was trying to pick, Percy, fast as lightning, reaching in and pulled out his pen, uncapping it and smacking his blade against hers. The impact was hard as it was unexpected, and it shot pain up Annabeth’s arm. She cried out and nearly dropped her knife.

“Oh, it’s _on_.” She grit her teeth and steadied herself for half a second before attacking. Percy caught her first strike effortlessly, deflecting her off with an ease that was _humiliating_.

“It’s like you’re not even trying.” He laughed. Annabeth hit again, her brain trying to figure out one efficient way to beat him. She looked over the bush- neither team’s flags were anywhere in sight, which she supposed was a good thing… kind of. It also meant she had to keep Percy occupied all the way until Clarisse and Lacy made it across- so what, she asked herself, was the best way to defeat a boy who had almost no weak points?

Her second blow was stronger than her first, and she was proud that she’d managed to knock the smile off of Percy’s face. She adored that smile with everything she had- the boy sure knew how to make her heart flutter- but now was _not_ the time for romance. It was brutal walloping time, and she’d much rather be on the giving than receiving end of it. Percy rolled under her and got to his feet, a little dazed from the intensity of her blow. He wasn’t usually one to be easily goaded into an attack, but apparently Annabeth’s last move had awoken the more aggressive fighter within him.

Percy bared his teeth and swung his sword just as Annabeth ducked out of the way so he ended up slicing three strands of her hair off instead.

“You could’ve killed me!” She cried from the ground and Percy rolled his eyes.

“I think you’re being a bit of a baby.” He said. “Get up.”

But Annabeth figured she had almost no chance on her feet- there was only one position in which she’d ever be able to overpower her boyfriend. She reached forward over and grabbed his ankle, yanking as hard as she could so he fell onto his back with a thud. His expression was so disoriented for a second, she had to bite back a laugh. She crawled onto his lap and knelt down, straddling his waist and bending over him so her forehead rested against his.

“Want to make out?” She whispered, sultry as she could manage. If there was one thing you could count on teenage boys for _always_ prioritizing-

Percy grunted in response, reaching his free hand over and cupping the back of her head before pulling her down to his lips. He kissed her so tenderly Annabeth had a tough time believing he’d just almost decapitated her only half a minute ago. He kissed her so tenderly she almost forgot that she was, in fact, plotting to use his love for her against him.

Okay… before you say she messed up her own plan, you need to understand- you can’t blame her for kissing him back and getting a little lost in the moment. Annabeth had a smoking hot boyfriend who was a _great_ kisser and looked so good when he was sweaty and being competitive and confident and- honestly, if you were sixteen and in love, you’d do the same thing.

_Of course_ she kissed him back.

Her eyes fluttered closed and she could taste his minty Chapstick and sweat and just a little bit of chocolate mousse from dinner. She barely noticed when she dropped her knife, or when Percy wrapped his arm around her waist and rolled them over so _she_ was under _him_ , and then-

“Oops.” Percy pulled away, and it took Annabeth a full minute to realize he was pointing her own knife at her throat. His grin was _infuriating_.

“Oh-Wha-? Oh my gods!” Annabeth sputtered.

“Next time,” Percy told her slowly. “Remember that you are not immune to my kiss. Nice try, Wise Girl, but I gotta go. Campers to hose down, remember?”

He sprung to his feet, and shifting his grip so he had Riptide pointed just above her heart while he did, pinning her firmly to the ground. Annabeth watched him peer around the bush and examine the situation. She didn’t hear any sudden geyser eruptions, so she figured it still wasn’t time- which meant Annabeth’s team still stood a chance.

In retrospect, grabbing the blade in her bare hands was a stupid move. Her palms were sliced open and pain seared through her hand, but it had shocked Percy enough that he loosened his grip on his sword- enough for it to fall right into Annabeth’s now bloody palms. She swept her leg under him and kicked him off his feet and struggled up.

“Are you insane!?” Percy demanded, but Annabeth grit her teeth and swung Percy’s sword once around her wrist, just to reacquaint herself with it. She’d never used Percy’s sword, but she understood his attachment to it. It was perfectly balanced- it felt so right in her hands that she almost forgot that it was the same blade that had just cut right into her bones.

“Probably.” Annabeth managed. “I’m in a fair amount of pain, though.”

“Wonder why.” Percy said sarcastically. He looked concerned, but made the wise decision to remain at least a sword’s length away from her. “Guess that’s what you get when you’re never taught not to run with sharp objects as a kid.”

“Shut up, Jackson.” Annabeth rolled her eyes. Then she swung the sword.

Percy caught it with the hilt of her knife, but he was nowhere as comfortable with her weapon as Annabeth was with his. She’d had years of practice with a sword. She didn’t think Percy had the first clue how to fight with a knife. She flicked her wrist, a neat little trick Travis Stoll had taught her a long time ago, and her knife sailed straight out of Percy’s hand. He raised his arms in defeat and stepped back.

“What you going to do, _kill_ me?” He asked. Annabeth narrowed her eyes and a small smile played on his lips.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t.” She grinned. She didn’t really care about her team’s victory anymore, not when she’d just disarmed her boyfriend, not when he was looking at her like _that_.

“You’ll lose dessert privileges.” Percy pointed out. Annabeth shrugged and stepped closer to him.

“Never had much of a sweet tooth, anyway.”

“You can’t make out with me if I’m dead.” Percy tried again. Fair point, Annabeth wanted to say. And where’s the fun in making out with someone if it isn’t Percy? Then she saw that smug sparkle in his eye and refused to give in.

“It’s going to be so easy to replace you.” She said.

Percy backed out until he was fully outside the cover of the bush. Annabeth stepped out of the shadows as well. Around them, hell had broken lose with Campers fighting like their lives depended on it.

“Okay. But if I’m dead,” Percy said slowly, lowering his arms deliberately. “You won’t be able to teach me all your stupid moves.”

He reached out and grabbed Riptide by the blade, much like Annabeth (albeit sans Achilles’ curse) had done before. The hilt slipped smoothly out of her grasp and Percy tossed it into the air, flipping it and grabbing it by the grip. Before Annabeth could respond to the betrayal, he reached around her, held her by the waist and pulled her flush against him, pressing his blade to her neck. With his free hand, he clasped her wrists firmly together behind her back.

“Now you get to watch my team win!” Percy cried happily, dropping a swift kiss to her temple. Then his tone softened by a thousand times. “Hey, by the way, I forgot to tell you- my mom really wants you to come spend Christmas with us, and I kind of already told her you would… please?”

Being asked to spend the holidays with her boyfriend’s family while being held hostage and at knifepoint by him wasn’t really the kind of excitement Annabeth was expecting in a relationship, but that didn’t mean she didn’t love it. It seemed quite on-brand for them, really. Her eyes welled with tears at the idea of spending quality time with Percy and his family. She’d only ever had Luke to spend Christmas with, save for the last four years when she’d been alone. She choked out a sob.

“That would be really nice, thank you.” She mumbled. Percy looked down at her, his brows stitching together.

“That’s a… good thing, right?” He asked. “Are you okay? Annabeth, look at me.”

He let go of her and turned her to face him. She nodded and looked at her shoes. Riptide hung loosely between them. “Yeah, I just… this is a big thing, isn’t it? Holidays with the family.”

“Not if you don’t want it to be. You know my family already. My mom loves you, Paul thinks you’re the smartest kid in the world and Tyson- I think Tyson likes you more than he likes me.”

“I know, I just- it’s nice, is all.” Annabeth said. She snaked her arms slowly around his waist and stepped into Percy, pressing her face in his shoulder, despite how uncomfortable the armor made it. She felt him kiss the top of her head.

“Oh, it’s going to be awesome.” He promised.

Annabeth opened her mouth to respond when she caught sight of Clarisse and Lacy over Percy’s shoulder, running straight towards the creek with a group of kids in blue helmets hot at their heels. In Clarisse’s hand, bright blue-

“It sure is.” Annabeth agreed, unable to stop her smile. She reached her hand down until her fingers curled around Riptide’s hilt. “Tell me about it _after_ I win.”

Annabeth gathered all her strength and shoved Percy as far away from her as possible- he stumbled back maybe three steps- and took off. She heard her boyfriend chasing after her as she wove through her siblings in war, but she wasn’t worried- Percy had never been quite as quick as her.

By the time she reached her teammates, Clarisse was fighting five campers at once and Lacy was shooting arrows by their feet, causing them to jump out of the way. Behind her, Annabeth could hear the water bubble excitedly. She glanced over her shoulder to see Percy standing by the very edge, grinning with his hand outstretched. Percy had told her before, how he often felt a tug in his stomach when he was harnessing the power of the seas. Now, Annabeth felt an uneasy churn in her stomach- she knew _exactly_ when he was going to pull his little stunt.

“Get down! NOW!” Annabeth yelled. Clarisse was the only one to listen. The both of them dropped to the ground, Riptide clattering out of Annabeth’s hand, just in time as jets of water shot all around the arena, smacking almost every person standing, regardless of which team they were in, square in the chest. Travis Stoll got hit so hard that he sailed right past Annabeth and landed on his butt with a _frump_!

“Thanks for that, Jackson.” She heard him grumble as he picked up his sword and charged straight for Annabeth, who stood there, no knife, no cap. She ducked to the side as he brought his sword down and grabbed a hold of his wrist, using his momentum to judo flip him. He landed on the ground once more, this time flat of his back and glared at her.

“You both deserve each other.” He told her. Annabeth beamed, adjusting her knee over him to hold him down while she reached over and grabbed Riptide. She kept expecting it to disappear from her hands, return to Percy’s pocket, but it never came.

“What happened to your palms?” Travis asked with a frown. He reached out to her but she swatted him away.

“Nothing some ambrosia won’t fix.” Annabeth told him, getting off of him. Now weaponless, Travis didn’t even try to get up after her. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Chase.” Clarisse said gruffly. “Keep Jackson occupied.”

“Give me the flag.” Annabeth told her. “I can get past the creek.”

“So can I if Jackson can just stop blowing it up like that!” Clarisse snapped. Annabeth hesitated. She was faster than Clarisse, and she knew when Percy was about to use his power. She was the best chance they had.

“I can-”

“You promised.” Clarisse growled. The red team on their side of the creek began to cheer, and Annabeth could see Nico di Angelo in the distance, further away from the border than she and Clarisse were- belting along down with some of the Aphrodite kids running behind him, in his hand, bright red-

Annabeth had promised Clarisse, she remembered. _Every word_.

“I _hate_ this plan.” She told her friend, getting to her feet and charging at Percy. He must have felt her presence because he turned just as she reached him.

“I missed beating you to pulp.” He said, holding up her knife.

“Your form sucks.” Annabeth told him, rapping him on the side with the flat of her sword. Percy stared at her for a second. “What?”

“I’m an only kid.” Percy said.

“I know.”

“I usually hate sharing things, but holy Hera if it isn’t the hottest thing in the world to see you fight with my sword.” Percy’s words came out fast and garbled, but Annabeth was fluent in Percy-tongue. She felt heat rise from her chest to her cheeks and Percy quickly averted his gaze. “I really, really like you, is all.” He mumbled again, far less sure of himself.

Annabeth felt dizzy. She forgot, for just a second, that Clarisse and Nico were currently racing to the finish line. Forgot how badly she wanted the win or how excited she was about rubbing her victory in Percy’s face. In this moment, Annabeth didn’t care about anything in the entire universe except for the boy in front of her, who was so cute with his green eyes and broad shoulders- who liked _her_ , of all the people on the planet.

“I really, really like you too, Jackson.” Her voice cracked as she said it- she didn’t think he understood how much that meant to her.

Percy’s expression was neutral when he searched her face. When had he become so handsome? His cheeks had sunken in a bit and his jaw was defined and his lips were fuller. It was moments like these that reminded Annabeth just how much they’d been through together. She’d known him since he was just a young boy. The twelve-year-old who’d passed out at her feet was nowhere to be seen in her boyfriend’s features now- gone was the mistrustful eyes and the nervous energy. Now there was just a calm certainty- of their past, present and future. They weren’t going to be separated, not for a long while.

Clarisse beat Nico across the river. The red team erupted in celebration and Percy dropped Annabeth’s knife onto the ground and reached out to her. He hooked his fingers through the straps of her armour and pulled her towards him, holding her gently around the waist.

“Looks like you won.” He said after a beat. Annabeth nodded, unable to take her eyes off of his. She didn’t feel any different, didn’t feel any more victorious than she had before.

If she was being completely honest, her biggest victory of the day was knowing she had a home to go to for the holidays- a home she shared with Percy- and that was more than winning any stupid game could ever be. She felt his palm against her cheek, his breath on her lips- and she didn’t care about Capture the Flag. She felt warmth bloom in her chest.

“I win every day.”


End file.
